Desertion In Lord Of The Flies

William Golding wrote The Lord of the Flies in response to another story of desertion, where characters were stranded on an island and left to fend for themselves. This story described the lonely lives the characters faced, but it was not in the way that Golding perceived it to be. Golding believed that, if left to his own devices in a society with no rules, man would revert to savagery, a statement which can be proven by the events that occur on the island in The Lord of the Flies. At first, life on the island is fine. The boys are understandably worried and frightened, but they quickly learn to adapt to their new surroundings after a pep talk from Ralph. “This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll
have fun,” he tells the group (pg. 35). Ralph is declared the chief of the island by a quick democratic vote and everyone is at ease. Soon enough, rules are established. The most important rule is to keep the fire going, so that they would have a chance of being rescued. All of the boys agree to do what they are supposed to.
Jack is to turn his fellow choir boys into hunters, and the rest are to set up shelter. This plan is quickly ruined when Jack does not make the kill he so deeply desires and the only ones who tend to the shelters are Ralph and Simon. Upon returning from his almost-kill, Jack gets into a squabble with Ralph over his apparent obsession with killing a pig. Ralph wants to be rescued, and argues that it is the best thing the boys can do. Jack replies with, “Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I’d like to catch a pig first (pg. 53). Ralph tries to remind him of the importance of the fire, but it virtually blown off by Jack, whose priority is the thrill of the kill. He makes the excuse of everyone wanting meat, but it is clear that Jack has begun his dissension to madness and savagery. Jack is not the only one who becomes a bloodthirsty Neanderthal over the course of the boys’ stay on the island. In one scene, Jack decides that he needs more boys and enlists the help of the twins to kill a pig. This would be fine, if not a little obsessive, if it were not for the fact that the twins were currently in charge of keeping the fire lit. They wanted to protest and stay with the fire, but Jack had painted his face in hopes of camouflaging more easily, and the mask that he had painted “compelled them (pg.
64).” Unfortunately for everyone on the island who still had his sanity, leading the twins away from the fire made it go out just as a ship finally sailed past the island. As Ralph and the others noticed this fact, the hunters returned from their proud kill. As they marched to the rest of the group, their chanting became audible. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood (pg. 69).” They happily displayed the pig carcass and her head mercilessly skewered on a wooden stake. It was clear at this point that the boys were becoming savages. It is not until the end of the book that the true nature of man is revealed, when all of the boys are out for blood. They kill Simon in a horrific manner due to a misunderstanding and choose to ignore their actions afterwards. Even the seemingly sane characters, Ralph and Piggy, take part in the brutal murder. After a series of events unfold, Piggy is also murdered by one of the boys named Roger. Ralph is the next potential victim, but he makes his escape when he runs into a naval officer. Before this, though, all of the boys chase him through the island and even spread a fire intended to smoke him out. What they fail to realize is that this fire would have also killed them and destroyed the island had the rescuers not come. In the end, all of the boys but Ralph had descended into savagery, the true nature of man.